Gotta check a pocket or two!

On the eve of St Valentine's Day 29 wonderful people showed Lewisham all their love by running 5k, sorting through clothing destined for Syria and playing a playful, but intense game of scissors, paper, stone.

Did you know, that if you bring a friend along to a group run in February, you will snap yourself up a pair of red GoodGym laces? Tonight's winner was Lizzie, who brought along Joe, good stuff! We also opened our doors to five other first-timers, who jolly well brought themselves along (maybe they should have got laces too?). Blow them a virtual kiss by clicking on their name and giving them a cheer: Emma, Catherine, Megan, Jacqui and Nikki. It was also great to see Neil, who was embarking on a bit of GoodGym tourism, David, who hasn't been in ages and Stephen, who has been battling a bug - welcome back!

First up we just had to give a rousing cheer to Helen and Kim, who took part in a 10k race at the Olympic Park yesterday, in the freezing cold! This was only their second ever race (with our GoodGym Lewisham Petts Wood 10k back in October being their first). Kim really went for it and bagged herself a smasher of a PB, knocking 5 minutes (yes 5 minutes) off her previous time! We all glowed with pride for a bit, hoping it might warm us up for what was to come next.

You don't have to worry about getting warm at a group run in Lewisham. People often ask, when they come for the first time, 'Should I keep my jacket on?' or 'Am I going to be warm enough?' Well, once you've run around playing a game of Shark Attack, you'll forget you even asked.

Once again, we found ourselves skirting by the closing-time dregs of Lewisham Market, still full of life, then embracing all that Lee High Road had to offer. This route certainly keeps you on your toes, with signs, bin bags, cones and phone-studying pedestrians offering a real-life assault course to negotiate. With Steve taking on the role of back-marker, we knew nobody would be left behind, so chatted happily and, before we knew it, were pausing on the corner, ready to head into the Leegate Centre.

Claire stood and waited, list in hand, as the runners kept on coming. Commenting on how great it was that she now has all this space to accommodate so many willing helpers, Claire told everyone about tonight's task. In the corner are bags and bags of donated clothing, ready to be sorted into various categories: women, men, boys, girls and also into sub-sections depending on condition - the donations range from brand new, with tags still in place, to so well used, they are not really usable. Very quickly, the volunteers found a bag, tore it open and moved between areas, finding the correct home for the item. As piles formed, it was suggested that these should be packed into boxes and then stacked, with a chain of activity buzzing through the space.

Tonight's lesson was always check your pockets before you send something to a charity and pants are pants!

One of our runners asked what the deadline is for the sorting and packing and Claire informed us that this particular load was destined for Syria. GRACE are working alongside and supporting another charity, Samara's Aid and, once there is a container's worth of clothing, then it will be transported to the people who need it.

As always, time goes far too quickly at our task, but so much was achieved in forty minutes, this kind of work could take so much longer without the input of eager runner/volunteers. Once we had found Lizzie, who had got herself lost behind the biggest pair of pants EVER, we were ready to pose for our group photo and head back out to the (not at all) mean streets of Lewisham. Up at the front, we picked up the pace a bit, until we realised we had lost, well, nearly everyone! A brief pause and we were reunited and back on our way. Phewee!

Time to find a partner and take them by the hand, well, not quite. Time to show them your hand in a game of scissors, paper, stone. Not just any old, playground version (though, we were next to the playground), no, this was a winner/loser, sprinting/squatting, jumping-jacking, press-upping, tri-dipping version. Once I had explained what to do, it was action stations, with people running, dipping, diving (maybe not diving) and jumping all over the place, breath heavy and hearts pounding. Good work everyone!

As we got our heart rates back down with some nice stretching in the foyer of Glass Mill, we chatted about socials, tasks (sign up for next week here), missions (Crofton Books needs that lovely painting finishing off) and then enjoyed some little chocolatey chewy treats from Mridula, yum, thanks! Don't forget to keep on planking and working those glutes with the odd bridge, I want to see firm butts and great form next week!